Guide to Metallurgy

Sticks, stones and bones can only carry you so far, but Mother Nature is infinitely generous with her gifts, among which she includes a marvelous class of materials - metals. Grateful and astounded, we accept it and pledge that it will not be wasted on trifles. It shall serve us greatly in mastering ways of cutting, slashing, gutting, chopping and slicing. We shall use it to harness flames and tame explosions, to travel swiftly across vast distances and to bring the Torch of Civilization to the realms of dark ignorance! Bless you, Mother!

Metallurgy concerns manipulating raw ores and turning them into metals, from which a myriad of tools, weapons and devices could be produced.

Before proceeding to metallurgy, it is recommended to check the Guide to Crafting for the basics of crafting.

Building the metallurgy equipment (kiln, bloomery etc.) requires certain research levels – check the Full Crafting List.

Basics

Obtaining metals

Different metals are produced from ores in different furnaces. See sections on Furnaces and on respective metals for more details.

General steps of metalworking

The primary component of metalworking is molds. At the very least, you will need a blacksmith pot or a blacksmith jug to melt ores in them.

Put ore or metal (ingots) in a blacksmith pot or a blacksmith jug.
Place a pot or a jug inside a kiln.
Light fire in the kiln and wait until the ore melts.
Pour molten metal into a mold of your choosing.
Take the mold and click a suitable(1) anvil with it(2).
Select a metal item to make(3).

(1): Some metals could only be worked on a more advanced anvil. For example, iron items are produced on the iron and steel anvils, not on the stone one. See the Anvils section.

(2): To make other items that are not cast via molds, click the anvil with metal ingots or sheets.

(3): The list of available items depends on the epoch.

Molds

Molds are made with Clay (to make clay, fill a container – a barrel, a bucket etc. – with water, dig dirt piles and click them with the container). Molds are used to cast tools and melee weapons from different metals. Each mold has a certain volume it can hold. 1 unit of volume = 1 unit of ore = 1 unit of molten metal = 1 metal ingot. Making different items requires a different amount of metal.

Clay molds are made raw and need to be fired in a campfire or an oven before using!

	Blacksmith pot	Made with 2 clay. Used to melt ores and metals in a kiln.
	Blacksmith jug	Made with 5 clay. Used to melt ores and metals in a kiln.
	Ingot	Made with 1.5 clay.
	Knife	Made with 1 clay.
	Pickaxe	Made with 3 clay. Add a wood handle to a pickaxe head to make a pickaxe.
	Shovel	Made with 3 clay.
	Axehead	Made with 1.5 clay. Add a wood handle to an axehead to make a hatchet.
	Spearhead	Made with 1.5 clay. Add a wooden hanle to a spearhead to make a spear.
	Arrowhead	Made with 1 clay. Add an arrow shaft to an arrowhead to make an arrow.
	Sword	Made with 5 clay.

Furnaces

Furnaces are operated similarly to the campfire and ovens, apart from that they do not have continuous fire - the fire will go out after an operation is finished. Furnaces require 2 units of fuel per single operation, i.e. at least 2 wood logs or 1 piece of mineral coal. To insert items into a furnace be on help intent.

	Kiln	Made with either 10 clay, stone or sandstone. Used to melt all ores and metals in blacksmith jugs and pots, except for Iron.
	Bloomery	Made with 10 clay. Used to only smelt iron ore into sponge iron. Can also be used to recycle metal items back into metal.
	Blast furnace	Made with 25 iron. Used to only smelt iron ore into pig iron.

Ores and Metals

Some particulars about smelting certain ores and working with certain metals.

Kiln-only

Tin, copper, gold, silver and bronze only need a kiln. Just melt ores in jugs and pots.

Bronze

Bronze is an alloy of tin and copper. You need to melt equal amounts (1:1 ratio) of tin and copper ore in the same jug or pot to produce bronze. For example, 1 unit of tin and 1 unit of copper make 1 unit of bronze.

Iron

Smelt raw iron ore in the bloomery to obtain sponge iron.
Work sponge iron at any anvil into usable iron ingots.
To cast iron tools or weapons with molds, put iron ingots in a jug or a pot and melt them in a kiln.

Steel

Smelt raw iron ore in the blast furnace to obtain pig iron.
Work pig iron at the iron or steel anvil into usable steel sheets.
To cast steel tools or weapons with molds, put steel sheets in a jug or a pot and melt them in a kiln.

Anvils

Anvils are used to forge armor and weapons across the centuries, from ancient swords to muskets and makeshift AK-47s. See the Guide to Weapons for more information on specific weapons and their availability in different ages.

Using anvils requires 1.7 of the Crafting skill.

Click anvils with a mold with molten metal or with some metal sheets or ingots to craft metal items.

	Stone	Made with 25 stone. Used to work tin, copper, bronze and sponge iron.
	Iron	Made with 20 iron. Used to work tin, copper, bronze, gold, silver and iron.
	Steel	Made with 25 steel. Used to work all kinds of metals, plus kevlar.